1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to an image display device and a method of changing extended display identification data (EDID) information thereof. More particularly, the present general inventive concept relates to an image display device which is capable of changing EDID information to make a version of the EDID information of a source providing device consistent with a version of the EDID information of the image display device, and a method of changing EDID information thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image display devices, such as televisions or computer monitors, which output image and sound signals can be connected to diverse source providing devices, such as set-top boxes, or digital versatile disc (DVD) players. If the image display device is connected to the source providing device, the source providing device provides image and sound signals to the image display device, and the image display device outputs the image and sound signals.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional image display system having a source providing device 10 and an image display device 20.
In order for the conventional image display system to output sources, that is, image and sound signals, a source providing unit 12 of the source providing device 10 reproduces and transmits the sources to the image display device 20 through an interface unit 14. The image display device 20 receives and outputs the sources through an interface unit 21, a source processing unit 22 and an output unit 23 under the control of a control unit 25.
If the source providing device 10 and the image display device 20 are connected via a cable, a control unit 16 of the source providing unit 10 determines output signals optimized to the image display device 20 based on extended display identification data (EDID) information stored in a nonvolatile memory 24 of the image display device 20. The EDID information indicates monitor data information, including identification of a seller and a manufacturer, and a variable and properties for basic display.
For example, if a television is connected to a computer, the computer senses the EDID information of the television according to a plug-and-play feature and outputs image signals and sound signals suitable for the television.
In order for the source providing device 10 to sense the EDID information of the image display device 20, the image display device 20 stores the EDID information standardized to the feature of the image display device 20 in the nonvolatile memory 24 when being manufactured. The nonvolatile memory 24 stores EDID information of a single format only regardless of a size of a memory thereof.
As the technology of the image display device 20 and the source providing device 10 has developed and image signals and sound signals have become increasingly utilized, the configuration format of the EDID information has been complicated and sophisticated. Accordingly, the version of the EDID information has been frequently upgraded, so if the version of the EDID information supported in each device is different, there may be incompatibility between the devices.
For example, when a user wishes to connect a television to a DVD player, if the version of the EDID information in the two devices is different, the device having the earlier version may not be able to recognize the signal scheme or format of a device having the later version, or may malfunction.
Since the EDID information is stored in the nonvolatile memory 24 of the image display device 20 during the manufacturing process, users cannot change it. Therefore, if there is incompatibility between the EDID information in the image display device 20 and in the source providing device 10, the image display device 20 or the source providing device 10 needs to be replaced.
In particular, as general users cannot easily recognize the EDID information suitable for the image display device 20, it is difficult to select a suitable source providing device 10.